Elway to Marino

Elway to Marino is a 2013 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the 1983 NFL draft. The film was released on April 23, 2013, directed by Ken Rodgers, and produced by NFL Films. [1]

Elway to Marino
Directed byKen Rodgers
StarringMarvin Demoff, John Elway, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Ernie Accorsi, Chris Berman
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
Production
Running time80 minutes
Production company(s)NFL Films
DistributorESPN Films
Release
Original release
  • April 23, 2013 (2013-04-23)

The film explores the 1983 NFL Draft through the eyes of Marvin Demoff, the then agent for Dan Marino and John Elway via the notes that he wrote in real time starting in the months leading up to the draft. The film covers the battle between Demoff, Elway and the Elway family and the Baltimore Colts who had the 1st overall pick that year until the ultimate trading of him to the Denver Broncos, the fall of Dan Marino through the draft and the other teams and their various picks and what happened to them. [2]

The film features Demoff, Elway, Marino, Jim Kelly, Chris Berman and then Colts general manager Ernie Accorsi, as well as interviews with other NFL personnel involved in the draft, as well as some of the other first round draft picks of 1983.

The film's main focus was on John Elway's desire to not play for the Colts, citing their apparent front office dysfunctions, and the attempts by the Colts to trade their #1 draft pick to other teams. Among the trades that were explored was a draft-day trade with the New England Patriots involving John Hannah, a three-way trade with the Los Angeles Raiders and the Chicago Bears, and a trade with the San Francisco 49ers for Joe Montana. The Colts nearly make a trade with the Dallas Cowboys, but the deal is lost when Colts owner Robert Irsay intervenes. In the end the Colts trade Elway to the Denver Broncos in a deal that was done by Irsay without Accorsi's consent, which causes Accorsi to resign.

The film's main subplot involves Dan Marino's fall in the draft, when rumors are spread that Marino's bad play during his senior season at Pittsburgh were as a result of drug use, even though Marino voluntarily gets tested repeatedly during the season, testing clean every time. Even so, teams like the New York Jets, Los Angeles Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers pass up on Marino, allowing him to fall to the Miami Dolphins.

Background

The 1983 draft is frequently referred to as the draft with the quarterback class of 1983, because six quarterbacks were taken in the first round, an unusually high number. [3]

Of these quarterbacks, four played in the Super Bowl, four were selected to play in the Pro Bowl, and three have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [4] The next highest number of quarterbacks taken in the first round is the five taken in the 1999 and 2018 NFL Draft. All six quarterbacks were drafted by American Football Conference (AFC) teams, with every member of the five-team AFC East (the Colts, Dolphins, Bills, Jets and Patriots) selecting a quarterback.[5] In eleven of the sixteen years following this draft, the AFC was represented in the Super Bowl by a team led by one of these quarterbacks: the Denver Broncos by John Elway (five times), the Buffalo Bills by Jim Kelly (four times), the Miami Dolphins by Dan Marino (once), or the New England Patriots by Tony Eason (once).

Of the six first round quarterbacks drafted, two did not sign with the teams that selected them for the 1983 season. First overall pick Elway, who had made his antipathy towards the Colts known long before the draft, was also a promising baseball player in the New York Yankees organization. With Yankees owner George Steinbrenner aggressively pursuing a commitment from Elway to play baseball full-time. The other was Jim Kelly, who was selected 14th overall by the Buffalo Bills but would turn them down to play with the Houston Gamblers in the USFL.

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References
  1. 'Elway to Marino' chronicles quarterback draft that changed NFL-LA Times
  2. 30 For 30: Elway To Marino-A.V. Club
  3. The 30 Best '30 for 30' Films-Rolling Stone
  4. 'Elway to Marino' and the greatest NFL Draft in history-SB Nation
  5. "Big Ben hopes 2004 QB class is one day viewed as best". National Football League. 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
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